New owner may bring life to brewery property

The former brewery site in Tumwater has stood vacant for more than a decade. But news of a sale of the properties Thursday is encouraging.

An Anaheim, California-based investment company has purchased the land and deteriorating buildings for $4 million, according to a tax affidavit signed Dec. 24 and filed by Chandulal Patel, a member of the board with the newly formed Tumwater Development LLC of Anaheim.

The seller was Capital Salvage, which took over the property several years ago and had appeared on the verge of selling it in November 2014.

The site was once home to the family-owned Olympia Brewing Co., which later was sold to larger brewing chains, and eventual owner Miller Brewing Co. shut it down after four years in 2003.

It’s not known what Patel and colleagues have in mind for the property, but the city has long seen it as a mixed-use development. The properties in question are south of Custer Way, and developers of that site and other historic brewery properties below Tumwater Falls have talked about a craft brewery and distillery at the old, iconic brick brew house.

Tumwater has been burned by high hopes before. But a change in hands may give the property the fresh shot at redevelopment that it needs.

COUNSELOR OF YEAR MAY BE HOME GROWN

Kim Reykdal, a counselor at Olympia High School, was named a counselor of the year finalist by the American School Counselor Association. Reykdal also serves on the Tumwater School Board and her husband, Chris, is a state legislator running for state schools superintendent.

Kim Reykdal was interviewed in Virginia in November and goes to Washington, D.C., next month for events that include a ceremony at the White House with first lady Michelle Obama.

Chris Reykdal, a Democrat, excitedly announced his wife’s good fortune on Twitter: “This woman defines passion for public education! And thankfully she fell for a guy wearing corduroy shorts in 1991.”

This story was originally published December 27, 2015 at 4:01 PM with the headline "New owner may bring life to brewery property."